And so it begins...(Union Station, Washington D.C. to Route 1, South of Mt Vernon Estate - 28 miles)

Thankfully the bikes were waiting for us at Union Station in Washington. A little less fortuitous was the fairly extensive damage each bike had sustained during the long trip from Heathrow. We found an excellent bike shop - Capitol Hill Bikes - where the beasts were treated to a (rather costly) spruce up.

The long delay meant that our first tentative pedals in the US were along the streets of the nation's first city during rush hour, but Washington is a really lovely place, and having passed the major landmarks we slowly made our way out of the city on the Mount Vernon bike route. This picturesque trail took us through old town Alexandria, and spirits were pretty high...

By 10pm, and the last of the light long gone, we were still about 10 miles from our intended destination, but fortunately we hit a great motel on US1, and after an enormous meaty pizza hit the hay for the first full day of cycling.